Technological Field
This invention relates generally to a box or enclosure and system for protective transportation of cut flowers, plants and the like from a supplier to a wholesaler or retailer.
Related Art
Cut flowers and bunches of flowers can be placed in bucket-type containers which contain water or foam soaked with water. In some cases, the containers are simply placed in a vehicle for delivery, but this significantly limits the amount of containers which can be delivered since no stacking is possible. In other known systems such as the Procona® packing system, a pre-bent cardboard strip is wrapped around the flowers and placed into the edge of the container to form a collar which extends above the upper ends of the flowers. A special machine may be used to place the collar. In the next step, a lid is placed on top of the collar. Finally, the package is closed with a strapping band. On arrival at the store or point of sale, the process is reversed to remove the strap, lid, and collar, which are then discarded. This is a multi-step, time consuming process and results in significant waste of materials.